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221 BCE
Before the Han Dynasty (The Qin Dynasty) 221 BCE- 207 BCE
It began as the Qin state that occupied the Wei River valley. In 246 BCE Ying Zheng came to the throne and completed the Qin conquest. In 221 BCE the Qin Empire was created and Ying Zheng proclaimed himself Shihuangdi. Harsh authoritarian methods, taxes for the funding of large construction projects and wars led to a rebellion that took place shortly after Emperor Shihuangdi's death in 210 BCE, This led to rise of the Han empire.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/412290540870205461/?autologin=true -
206 BCE
Introduction
This timeline helps explore in further detail the dynamic of the Han dynasty, the succession of emperors, including what preceded the Han dynasty before 206 BCE and what took place immediately after the end of the Han dynasty in 220 CE.
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/VS7pKZJ3zPs/maxresdefault.jpg -
206 BCE
The Beginning of the Han Dynasty
The founder of the Han dynasty was a peasant who led the rebellion against the Qin named Lui Bang... Later known as Emperor Gaozu. Unlike the Qin the Han Adopted a Confucian ideology that focused on moderation, virtue and filial piety. During the Han Dynasty Buddhism found its way to China, and poetry was nurtured throughout the dynasty.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Gaozu_of_Han#/media/File:Emperor_gao_of_han_c01s06i01.jpg -
Period: 202 BCE to 9
Xi Han (Former/Western Han)
The Han Dynasty can be distinguished between 2 sub periods. The first is known as Xi Han which lasted from 202 BCE- 9 CE. Lui Bang defeated Xiang Yu of Chu at the battle of Gaixia in 202 BCE and he officially took the title of Emperor Gaozu. His victory unified the empire and Chang'an was chosen as the capital of the empire. The Han dynasty began as 13 centrally controlled territories including the capital in the western 1/3rd of the empire while the other 2/3rd's were divided into 10 kingdoms -
141 BCE
The Longest Reigning Han Emperor ( Emperor Wu 141- 87 BCE)
Emperor Wu was born Liu Che in 156 BCE and reigned from 141 BCE to 87 BCE making him the longest running emperor in history until Kangxi's reign from 1661-1722. Wu increased the authority of the Han dynasty and also made Confucianism the state religion. Wu also began expanding the control of the empire as far as incorporating southern China central Vietnam and parts of Korea. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/%E6%BC%A2%E6%AD%A6%E5%B8%9D.jpg -
9
The Xin Dynasty 9 - 23 CE
This short lived dynasty caused a break in the continuity of the Han dynasty. This break was caused by Wang Mang also known as his posthumous name Jiahuangdi. As an Emperor Wang Mang is depicted as a villain due to the Liu family (Han Dynasty) regaining control after his short lived reign but in reality he shared many similar views of how to rule the people of China. His large scale reform efforts led to his eventual downfall.
http://totallyhistory.com/wang-mang/ -
Period: 25 to 57
Emperor Guangwudi and the Return of the Han Empire
The Han empire returned in 25 CE by Liu Xiu who reigned for the next 32 years until 57 CE. As emperor he was known as Guangwudi. This restored dynasty is known sometimes as the Dong (eastern) or Hou (later) Han. This dynasty was known as the eastern Han at that point due to Guangwudi moving the capital to Luoyang in eastern China after he defeated the remaining Xin rebels. He and his family were the Dynastic successors until the Han Dynasty ended and was replaced by 3 different kingdoms. -
Period: 25 to 220
Hou Han (Later/Eastern Han)
Hou Han marked its beginning when Emperor Guangwudi took the empire back from Wang Mang and made Louyang its capital. The Dynasty remained in the east and had 12 emperors until its end after 195 years. Emperor Guangwudi revised all the policies leftover by the Xin Dynasty to try to return to the previous Han ways. The Hou Han reached its greatest height around the middle of the first century and overall surpassed the economic, cultural and scientific development of the Western Han. -
189
The Last Han Emperor (Emperor Xian)
Emperor Xian born Liu Xie was the 14th and final Emperor of the Han dynasty. He was put on the throne after the death of his father Emperor Ling and with the assistance of General Dong Zhuo. This showed the other nobility that in fact Dong Zhuo was controlling the empire, until his assassination in 192 CE. This gave rise to Cao Cao who used Emperor Xian as an effective ruler to try to reunify the empire.
Image http://threekingdoms.wikia.com/wiki/Emperor_Xian_of_Han_%E6%BC%A2%E7%8D%BB%E5%B8%9D -
220
The End of the Han Dynasty
The end of the Han dynasty came with the death of Cao Cao who was a general of Emperor Xian and had the majority of the control of the existing empire, With his death his son Cao Pi usurped the throne and made Emperor Xian a mere noble. Also ending the Han dynasty in 220 CE. This marked the beginning of the Wei dynasty that lasted from 220-265/66 CE and also ushered in what is called the era of the Three Kingdoms.
Image:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cao_Pi#/media/File:Cao_Pi_Tang.jpg -
220
After the Han Dynasty (The 3 Kingdoms)
After the demise of the Han Empire with the the death of Cao Cao three remaining powers stood in China. The Wei Kingdom (220-265/66 CE) which was confined to the northern part of China. Two other Han Generals inserted themselves as emperors. One began the Shu-Han empire (221-263/64 CE) located in the west. The other was the Wu empire (222-280 CE) and was located south of the Yangtze River. This era was brief and replaced by the Jin dynasty.
http://www.foreigners-in-china.com/three-kingdoms.html
